I think it’s very unfair to blame Dunne for it. He tried to deal with it, Parliament supported him and passed legislation applauded worldwide, and then National wimped out and canned it. And the current Government has done little in nearly a year to address it.

Blaming one MP for a problem allowed to fester and grow by two successive Governments each of 120 MPs is misguided and unfair.

robertguyton

Greens have also been pretty slack in their approach to drug issues too. They have put a low priority on their drug abuse policies for a long time. Chloe Swarbrick is trying hard to get something happening but with little apparent support from her party.

robertguyton

19. Increase funding for alcohol and drug addiction services and ensure drug use is treated as a
health issue, and have a referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis at, or by, the
2020 general election.

That sounds fairly soft and non-urgent to me. Some rhetoric and a referendum in three years is nothing like a war on drugs, but it is also nothing like the urgent action needed last year.

Are you happy with the progress the Greens have made with there drug policies over the last twenty years? Over the last year?

robertguyton

I’m unhappy with the way the Opposition parties have used any and every progressive Green idea on drug reform to demean and disable them and keep them from Government, yes. The harm done to the health of New Zealanders and the ability of the Greens to make meaningful changes to drug use in New Zealand does make me unhappy, Pete, thanks for asking.

robertguyton

No one’s come through as we would hope, Pete. I think the Greens have been as bold as they dare, given if they say too much they will be attacked and lose their opportunity for influence in other fields…like oil exploration 🙂

PartisanZ

The Chloe Swarbrick sponsored Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment Bill wasn’t “wimping out” … It would have been a significant start and, among other things, if Police discretion had been stressed, could probably have saved $200 million in our ludicrous, globally embarrassing “war on cannabis” …

National wimped out on it … although they’ll happily offer cross-party support on Carbon Emissions [farmers obviously want a say in that] … as did NZFirst and some Labour Members …

The Greens had to accommodate what the other two major coalition partners had in their agreements … which, as far as I can tell, involved NZFirst dropping its “NO” bottom-line … [shedding some voters?]

It was always going to be a referendum at the 2020 elections IMHO … nothing until then … such is the fucken stranglehold corporate-political elitist conservatism has on this country …

Unlike you I’m not committed to defending any party regardless of their lack of effort to deal with growing drug problems.

I say what I think here, and promote discussion. When you don’t like how the discussion goes you have a habit of making snide or false insinuations. It doesn’t help your argument at all, to the contrary.

PartisanZ

And such is the fucken stranglehold corporate-political elitist conservatism has on our ‘governance’ that it stymied Dunne’s good intentions … if he had any …

I wonder if the elites realize just how utterly absurd and blatantly ludicrous it looks to the majority of the general populace that the thing they’re trying MOST TO PREVENT is people growing a plant in their own backyards …!!!???

Just how much it alienates them from the people …?

Hah! They must be using the same strategic political adviser/dictators as National are? Oh … sorry … They are the adviser/dictators …

robertguyton

“Going dirty”?
Suggesting you have a tribe? You had a tribe. Have you denounced them, been excommunicated? You are happy to accuse others of tribal behaviour but won’t sensibly discuss the possibility that you too, suffer from political tribalism?
Sensitive today, Pete.

robertguyton

“Unlike you I’m not committed to defending any party regardless of their lack of effort to deal with growing drug problems.”
You always defend Dunne on this issue. In any case, how can you defend UnitedFuture? They don’t exist any longer.

NOEL

Corky

Don’t talk crap, Pickled Possum ..no one forces people to smoke crap, whether it’s true green or synthetic. The results are the same..most wind up like morons. The advantage of synthetics is it can act faster and put the user out of his misery much more quickly.

Personally, like I said, I’m all for making all drugs legal. A better feral cull I cannot conceive of..a little like a 1080 drop.

PartisanZ

There’s plenty of places where expressing the opinion that an exceedingly loosely defined “feral” cohort of the population should be “culled” might be considered hate speech …

No, people aren’t exactly “forced” to smoke either synthetic drugs or natural cannabis. People aren’t exactly forced to drink alcohol either but its safe to say liquor is a pillar of our society …

IMHO there needs to be new words and definitions for the coercive influences in society which guide, manipulate and ‘push’ people in the direction of escapist, anti-authoritarian, compulsive and addictive behaviours …

Corky

I take you two haven’t had to deal with druggies. They fuck innocent peoples lives up.
They are worthless to society. Hate speech? Give me a break. Tell that to people who have had their lives destroyed by druggies.

”I’m glad you’re able to be honest and open here about your wish that people whom you consider ‘feral’ would die.”

I didn’t say that. In fact I would have no problem with druggies who caused no problems to others. That, however, rarely happens.

Please, before you get holier-than-thou, get some experience under your belt. And please don’t tell me some of your best friends are druggies. If that was the case you wouldn’t have written your posts the way you did.

phantom snowflake

Ahhh you spout some funny shit sometimes, Uncle. On one of the threads yesterday my experience with drugs was too extensive for some peoples’ liking. As for Partisanz; yeah he would never come across drug users ….in rural Northland! *snigger*

Corky

Well, Aunt, funny shit for funny people. Maybe one day I will take you seriously. As for Parti….coming across drug users and actually being affected by druggies are two different issues. One will certainly change your attitude away from what he wrote.

David

Finally some facts about the absurdity of this stupid government giving money to drug users and the preposterous situation Twyford has put us in with an unlimited cleanup budget with no sanctions for meth users.

David

The only good thing is that if there is going to be a meth smoking den then its going to be in one of Twyfords properties where the liability falls to the taxpayer. Given HNZs budget is fixed this will mean less resources to sort out the real housing crisis but the private sector hopefully will not be too badly effected as everyone will bowl round to the state house for a pipe.

Blazer

David

Yup and heroin and Ecstacy but definitely not tobacco. I dont care what you put in your body except when it damages my property and as a taxpayer you should be pissed at the cavalier attitude Twyford is taking with using your hard earned to allow a tenant to willfully damage it…even if that doesnt bother you what about thr opportunity cost of not being able to house a needy family because money and resources and the house is stuffed because a druggie wont smoke his pipe outside.

Blazer

David

Yup and its another cost for me every time we start a new tenancy having the property tested because of the swingeing penalties imposed by the tenancy tribunals.
Smoke your cannabis in the back yard is fine with me just show a little respect for the house you live in..like a decent member of society.

Blazer

David

There used to be no distinction between smoking or manufacturing. The tenancy tribunal had a case where there was residual meth below the previous low government mandated level and the landlord had to refund all the rent, replace some of the tenants furniture and contribute to moving costs.
Its still not clear what position the tenancy tribunal will take going forward so if you have a test pre tenant, literally the day they move in its probably the only way of protecting yourself. In some areas it is also noted on your LIM which makes the house near sale proof.
Unless the parliament passes legislation we have to wait for a daft tenancy tribunal ruling to be taken to court for a legally binding ruling. Some US states have a zero residue standard and meth has been a thing there for decades.

lurcher1948

Duncan Garner is full on hammering of our PM Jacinda Adern on tRumps war on drugs,Duncan says Trump will punish us for not groveling as Simon Bridges would grovel as every National PM has done.At long last a PM who says we are an independent country who does things OUR WAY

David

lurcher1948

Stolen from a nearby rightwing blog,Paddy and the blond chick speaks sense,Mark is your typical failed rightwing cricketer, starts off ranting quietly and winds his voice up like a dervish as if NZ cares
Paddy and a blonde head bobber just love our Cindy, and embrace her. Tova seems to be more sensible. Mark and Duncan are realistic, Ruby Lips is hopelessly Labour.
It should be called the Duncan and Buster show

Pickled Possum

“Māori are eight times more likely to get tuberculosis than Pākehā.”
45% of Roughly 60 local cases each year in NZ are Maori.

Well there you go Maori Looks like Maori need to take back their mana and practice their own rongoa fix their own health. Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 has been repealed.
Obviously the pakeha medicine does not work that well for Maori
because we are fundamentally different.

“Tohunga were the holders of knowledge of most rites, and knowledge in general in wānanga. This included health matters, or rongoā, as tohunga were experts in the use of medicinal plants and herbs. European settlers noted the good health and fitness of Māori when they arrived but the diseases that arrived with them were impervious to traditional healing practices. The perceived loss of power of the tohunga, along with the missionary preachings, led many Māori to accept the new religion of the Pākehā in what was to become yet another destabilising factor to the traditional Māori lifestyle. Many tohunga declined to pass on their oral traditions leaving Māori bereft of much of their traditional base. Whatever the overt intentions, there was a paradigm of the time amongst colonial administrators and the general non-Māori populace that Māori were a “lost race”, the effect of banning the practices of spiritual and cultural leaders was that it hastened assimilation.
The Act was repealed by the Maori Welfare Act, 1962″https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohunga_Suppression_Act_1907

“TB has no symptoms and is not contagious,”

But they go on to say in this most informative piece;
“If you are exposed to a TB case, there is a good chance that you will become infected

Doesn’t that make it contagious ??

“TB can cause fevers, night sweats and weight loss. It is a bacterial infection that often attacks the lungs and causes patients to cough up blood.”

Gezza

Pickled Possum

YES IT IS!! gezza bro
So contagious that in the late 70’s Maori babies were being jabbed carte blanche
by authorities. With the influx of Island People … who spat on the ground and had TB (so they say) the authorities were so scared they inoculated all new born Polynesian babies.

Good Luck Blazer with the western quackery healing people with the common cold.
Maori rongoa is there for every one and all different cultures use the same weeds and herbs to heal. Rongoa Maori is now becoming a frequent sight in homes and markets these days. Some balms and tonics like Malcome Harker has made for years work on most anything that the sick world throws our way.
Like this song says I’ve Got Faith

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a type of bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It’s spread when a person with active TB disease in their lungs coughs or sneezes and someone else inhales the expelled droplets, which contain TB bacteria.

Most of these bacterium live in your nose don’t they?
so I use menthol shards when I feel a twinge in the nostrils and a few drinks of honey and the cone flower, tea tree on scrapes rashes etc and I am in charge of my own health. I look for solutions to my health issues and gotta say I am way past ‘their’ use by date.

Gezza

No I haven’t Possum. I spent a bit of time doing basic google research into the disease and also into claimed natural cures. I learned that sometimes it can cure itself and the bacterium simply dies and about the rate of active tuberculois in communities, and how many people get infected but have latent turberculosis which means it is not active but also about the incidence of latent turberculosis where infected non-infectious suffer no symptoms and are not infectious but a number of whom in later years find that it suddenly becomes active and they now have active tuberculosis, are highly infectious, and start infecting their whanau and friends.

With conditions that have these characteristics it is easy for people to claim they know someone who can cure tb and people believe them because they know someone who had it and seems well – so it can’t be eradicated.

Gezza

Kitty Catkin

And it DOES have symptoms when it gets going; it is very far from being symptom free.

. The severe cough, inc. coughing blood (people who die of it tend to drown in their own blood when they haemorrhage badly, like Katherine Mansfield) People are actually coughing up bits of their lungs.

There are fevers and weight loss and other symptoms.

Perhaps the vax should be reintroduced.

Griff.

Obviously the pakeha medicine does not work that well for Maori
because we are fundamentally different.

What you are a different species now?
Hate to tell you
You are 99.999 percent the same as the rest of us humans .
The exceedingly small genetic difference is not a factor when it comes to medicine.
Besides which the last full blooded maori died out long ago.

Wiki has its uses but often a closer look with yield more nuanced information.
Like.
The Tohunga Suppression Act was presented by Māori MP James Carroll and supported by the four Māori members of parliament. It was passed in 1907.
James Carroll and the maori mp’s were well aware that the sort of nonsense practiced by the Tohunga was not helping their peploe. Like the effort to get maori fluent in English at the time the maori themselves were the source of the ideas that nowadays are often attributed to suppression attempts by the evil colonial settlers goverment.

robertguyton

The Placebo Effect is a powerful tool for all medical practitioners. It’s success rate is astonishingly high, in curing all sorts of ailments. The state of mind of the sufferer has a powerful effect on their health and manipulating that is the key to many cures. Effective conventional doctors focus on the state of mind of their patient as well as the signs shown physically. I think you underestimate the effectiveness of traditional medical processes and I don’t mean they are just using placebo, I mean they are employing a range of powerful techniques that are easily scoffed at by those with no experience with them.

lurcher1948

So Sir Key gets knighted for being a politician
So Sir English gets knighted for being a politician
and i got a Pride in Print for doing a damn good printing job in 2001 and a trip to Dorkland,so do you think i should get a knighthood for doing a damn good job or are knighthoods only given to rich suits

Corky

We often wonder at the stupidity shown on occasions by US cops. If this is a genuine police entrance test, we have our answer as to why. Average primary school kids of thirty years ago would have answered all questions correctly.

Kitty Catkin

When did average primary school pupils know what DWI and GSW stood for, what to do when they find someone with a self-induced gunshot wound, what a perpetrator is, what inebriated means, whether they should shoot, arrest, use a truncheon or call for backup when a gang fight starts, and which amendment gives the right to remain silent ? We didn’t learn US police terminology and law at primary school in NZ.

Gezza

Corky

The problem is, Blazer, Labour are now lurching from one crisis to the next. They are becoming associated with trouble and incompetence.
Be thankful National doesn’t have a leader at the moment like Sir John Key.

Blazer

Gezza

Beg your pardon – Simon kicked off the show about Meka during Kweschun Toym. I missed seeing this owing to dozing off again. I really should sit up straight on the sofa to watch this show I think. Lying down doesn’t seem to be a good strategy:

Gezza

We had a much nicer day than forecast. A cloudy morning turned into a pleasantly sunny afternoon. A light norwesterly in the early morning changed to a light chilly southerly later on, but has now changed back to a coolish northerly – but the wind map shows that it’s a basically a southerly, curling around the top of the SI to go through Cook Strait. It’s that time of year I think. The wind & weather is all over the place

Griff.

Alan Wilkinson

Gezza

Corky

Don’t believe any bs you read on line. Unless you have made contact with your power animal and it has offered you advice then it’s just play acting. Many new agers fall in to that category of the blissfully deluded..